Our Nation Today

I am Senator Malcolm Roberts and welcome to Our Nation Today. Senator Malcolm Roberts speaks with Jacintha Geia. Jacintha an Indigenous woman, born in Rockhampton and raised in Townsville in a family of seven siblings. Home life was not always nurturing, and she often moved to live in other remote communities throughout Queensland. Jacintha visited Malcolm in Canberra last year and was impressed with her strong belief in self-responsibility and determination, not only for herself, but also for her people. Jacintha is a proud mother to three daughters, and she is deeply committed to supporting her children be able to move successfully in both worlds and reminds them every day that they make their own futures. Jacintha’s childhood was far from ideal, so she knows first-hand the attitudes and determination required to make your own successful future. She has faced the demons of alcoholism, drug addiction, welfare dependency, homelessness, domestic violence, childhood poverty and trauma, and if that wasn’t enough, suicidal tendencies and sole parenting. Still only 33 years old, and in the face of so many setbacks, she has been steadfast in her commitment to breaking the cycle of despair and dysfunction in her life. The realisation that the oppressor in her life was not the white man, which is so often the default excuse, rather the oppressor was only herself. That realisation literally set her free from victimhood and onto a new path for her and her family. Jacintha has recently graduated from a Diploma in Government and has a Certificate 5 in Performing Arts and Procurement and Contracting.

Our debt of gratitude to our Australian health care workers over the past two years is impossible to quantify. Doing what they love, thousands of nurses and doctors have been at our beck and call taking care of people who have become ill. The mandatory introduction of the COVID vaccine has wreaked havoc in many sectors, with large numbers of staff having to leave their jobs to exercise their bodily autonomy to not have the vaccination. It is our doctors and nurse who are seeing first-hand some of the concerning adverse effects from this vaccination and, perhaps not surprisingly, these stories are not finding their way into mainstream media. Doctors and nurses who try to advocate for their patient’s rightful access to informed consent and bodily autonomy are threatened with disciplinary hearings and dismissal. Others, like 'Cathy', refuse to stay silent and have already resigned from their job that is their passion, so they are free to speak out about what they have experienced. Cathy is a registered nurse and a registered mental health nurse. She joins me on Our Nation Today to share her experiences over the past eighteen months, including adverse reactions from the vaccinations and the adverse outcomes for the mental health of our health care workers. There is no one size fits all for dealing with a virus like COVID-19. Australians have a right to choose how they medicate themselves when ill. The blatant removal of our individual freedoms regarding our chosen medical responses to COVID is unprecedented and should concern every Australian. We have been corralled like cattle into a yard and forced to plunge into the dip. The mental health consequences for the government’s stubborn refusal to consider complementary treatments for COVID-19 is leaving an ugly legacy for families, and the government is ignoring. Our governments have a preference that it is more palatable to die from mental health issues such as suicide and suffer debilitating adverse effects from the vaccination, or even death, than it is to die from COVID or give people medical options. Adverse reactions are real. The vaccination is not for everyone. People should not be corralled and made to choose between vaccination or livelihoods. Our freedom to choose our medical treatments is a fundamental aspect of a democratic society.

Senator Malcolm Roberts has written to the Prime Minster Scott Morrison and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk demanding answers to numerous important questions. They are issues the Senator’s constituents are very concerned about however all citizens have been affected by the mismanagement of the pandemic by the Federal Government and all the states in Australia. As noted by Senator Roberts, Australians are concerned about critical matters on current and future health policies, erosion of our basic human rights, the failure of Federal Government leadership and exactly what parliament’s role is in protecting Australian citizens when Governments become unaccountable. Senator Robert’s letter notes the wide acknowledgement that government actions and inaction have torn apart businesses, employment and the economy, as well as marriages, families and communities. Our health systems, aged-care facilities, police forces, education systems, the legacy media, social media, governments and parliaments have all been affected. Senator Roberts notes that responses so far from the Prime Minister and the Premier have lacked data. Very poor justification has been provided for draconian restrictions and dangerous actions such as the mass coerced injection of people of a provisionally approved “vaccine” Health Minister Greg Hunt said himself was “The world’s largest clinical vaccination trial." Australia is now a divided country and the Federal Government, and all State Premiers need to account for their actions and reverse course immediately. Covid-19 is no longer an excuse to wreck a nation.

Under Australian law there is an overarching principle – that our right to freedom is a basic inalienable right around which our body of law has been formed. Over the last 18 months we have had a good look at what freedom looks like, through the prism of freedoms and human rights being removed. Many Australians are waking up to the fact that we have taken our freedom for granted. Our country’s response to COVID sees fit to lock people up for the crime of being healthy, censoring media, using scaremongering tactics on the population and forcing small businesses to close. Each new restriction, although met with rightful public opposition, has not led to a re-evaluation. Instead it has led the government to crack down even further. Everyday Australians are being deliberately demoralised to extract a higher degree of compliance. Crushing resistance crushes hope, and without hope we have no future. One of the more draconian outcomes from COVID has been the stream rolling of the population into mandatory vaccinations. Our rights over our bodies has been annihilated and we have been swept up into the world’s largest clinical trial without consent. Many are standing in defiance of the mandatory vaccinations, even those people double vaxxed. We are now on the very cusp of a two-tiered society – the vaccinated versus unvaccinated. The government rhetoric is flaming the division, pitting citizen against citizen and workplaces are pitting employee against employee. One of those people who have taken a stand is Graham Hood, the now famous Australian Qantas pilot. Graham is a 53 year veteran of the aviation industry and pilot with Qantas for 32 years. He has over 35,000 hours of flying and 20,000 take off and landings. Qantas charges him and his crew with the lives of thousands of people every year to fly and arrive safely at their destinations, yet they are unable to make their own decisions around the COVID vaccination. As with so many other industries, this vaccine has been mandated. Graham embodies the spirit of Australia and a champion for our freedoms. His voice is one of the many that remind us what it is to be an Australian, something many of us have forgotten.

For this podcast we are heading west to Charleville, which knows a lot about droughts and flooding rains. Back in 1902 in the midst of a crippling drought, ingenuity and desperation came up with the idea of a vortex gun that would shoot at the clouds to bring about rain, unfortunately without success. Charleville has seen many floods since and in 1990 over 1000 homes were flooded and most of the town evacuated. Charleville is situated on the Warrego River and positioned on a natural stock route between NSW and QLD. It became an important stopover in the day of Cobb and Co and was eventually settled by pastoralists in the 1860s. Today Charleville is a vibrant regional town with a population of around 3,500 and boasts Bilbies, black skies and the longest bar, when constructed, in the Southern Hemisphere, at the Corones Hotel. Charleville is a must visit in outback Queensland and to tell us more about all Charleville has to offer, Malcolm talks with the Murweh Mayor, Shaun Radnedge, or Zoro as he is known locally in Charleville.

Stephen Andrew is One Nation’s state member for Mirani and this is his second term. He is a 5th generation decedent from the South Sea Islander “Kanakas” and has deep roots in the Mirani district. Since the last 1800s Steve’s family have been in the communities from Rockhampton to Mackay with both of Steve’s grandfathers born within the boundaries of Mirani. One of Steve’s relatives was born on the banks of Sandy Creek in a hessian Hut and Cedric lived to a ripe age of 101. His maternal grandfather serviced in the 43rd Battalion in France during the Great War. Steve has a background in both electrical and mechanical trades, largely within the mining industry. His decision to represent the people of Mirani comes from a long family commitment to community values and seeing firsthand how poor legislation brings about unnecessary family hardship and damages the local economy. Steve’s passion is to work towards strengthening the local community and the economy and to ensure people are free to live dignified lives.

Small business and sole traders have done it the toughest during COVID. Big business is better equipped to pivot during the lockdowns and restrictions while small businesses in shopping strips and in shopping centres continue to suffer the most. The state and federal governments announced a jointly-funded support package of $600m for the week-long in early August. 25,000 Queensland businesses have applied for the funding life-line, yet only 6,353 businesses have actually received money. That lock down was a month ago, yet only a quarter of businesses have received financial support. Government can hand out money, yet what business really needs is the confidence to open doors to customers without the worry of when doors will again be closed. Small business need’s assurance that liquidators are not on their doorstep ready to wind them up. Small business needs time to recover. And it is never as simple as just opening the doors. COVID restrictions have been global and global supply chains have been affected. Small Australian businesses are being faced with shortages of product, including electronics, balloons, books, bikes, hair products, toys, game consoles and textiles. With Christmas on the horizon, and the best chance of significant spending to lift the retail sector, we’re now faced with a significant global supply chain crunch. Before COVID much of the air freight arrived with passenger flights, which are no longer an option for retailers who are now waiting months for stock to arrive on boat, because air freight is either too expensive or non-existent. Some larger retailers are ordering excess stock to just get it here, then warehousing it, yet this is not an option for small business who cannot afford that work around. Many small businesses have pivoted to online shopping, which has been a saviour. In spite of admirable small business resilience, tenacity and determination, the QLD Chief Health Officer in August decided to wade into the retail sector with reckless advice against online shopping. Hers is an ill-conceived attempt to limit the movement of delivery workers to limit the spread of COVID. Australia needs to get back to work. Our communities need their social cohesion restored and families need certainty. I encourage all Australians to support local small businesses and help them to recover.

In the words of former US vice president Hubert Humphrey in the 70s, “The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of their life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly...” Governments and governance in this country during COVID have failed this moral test, and mental health in this country, especially for our children, is declining. Human beings are gregarious in nature and our primal need to socialise sustains our very breath. Therefore the consequences of persistent and externally imposed social isolation tears at the fabric of what makes us human, physically well and literally sane. The nation’s plan for re-opening is increasingly looking shaky, with some Premiers deciding to go their own way. After 18 months we still do not have the certainty we need. Business doesn’t have the certainty it needs. All of our children are not yet at school, or even allowed to play in the playgrounds. Today I am joined by Matt Fox, who runs a fitness business on the Sunshine Coast. Our children, are perhaps the victims of the greatest deprivations, not only of liberty, but of education and normal development; deprivation of swings, slippery slides and rides on the bike, swims at the beach and local sport; deprivation of crucial friendship supports and separated parents. It is a matter of extreme urgency that children be allowed to return to the anchors that sustain them. Mental health professionals around the country are campaigning for the mental health needs of our children and it is overdue that we hear their voices loudly. So many business have gone beyond the point of return. So many employees are faced with gut wrenching decisions around their freedoms and the removal of informed consent on the vaccination. The Australian people have been cornered into complying with demands that strip them of their right to make choices for their health, their families and their livelihoods. It is entirely reasonable that many of us feel lost for words and lost for direction. There is hope, with sentiment is now turning. More and more people are demanding that we get back to work and get our kids back to school. Increasing numbers of people are far more worried about their work and livelihoods than about catching COVID. Australia, we need to get moving again.

I'm sure many are wondering just how much longer can we continue to survive, economically and emotionally, in this never ending unpredictable environment of lockdowns. Human beings need to be able to plan for the future and have predictability about their world to be okay. At the moment many of us are not okay and our border communities are in a dark tunnel of turmoil that seems to have no end in sight. The health of our economy is also not okay. Each time another lockdown demands we close our businesses our economy gets weaker. Our focus has to be on getting Australia, particularly small business, back to work. Small business is dying at the hands of the prime minister and our premiers, because their narrow focus excludes our economic security and surety for the future. Federal COVID financial support packages finished up a few months ago so in some quarters we are yet to feel the real economic pain. There have been many business arrangements put in place that have created a mountain of IOUs and that avalanche is yet to hit us, such as property leasing payments put on hold. Our CBDs are still too empty and the For Lease signs are all around town. Big business may well be declaring profits at the moment but the same can’t be said for small business. Small business is at the heart of the Australian economy and when it dies so does our economy and our communities. There is much economic pain that has not been captured in the data yet. Small business needs real support that makes a difference. At this point the most useful contribution that any government can make is to stop these lockdowns and allow Australians to go out and earn a living. Joining us is Gene Tunny, who is a practical economist whose business is Adept Economics. Gene, practical economists don’t just deal in theory; you deal with the impact on people’s lives of what happens in the economy and what it drive people to do. Our Nation Today. August 29, 2021

As more and more people become understandably vaccine hesitant, the government is becoming more and more authoritarian. If we don't want to end up in a dictatorship all vaccine choices, whether compliant or hesitant, must be accepted. Australians have good reason to refuse an experimental vaccine - making Government or Private sector coercion even more abhorrent. Australia is becoming a divided nation, with Australians pitted against each other. Good Governments would not stoop to this during a real health emergency.

A decision to join the Australian Defence Force, be it army, navy or airforce, is a life-defining decision. The change that every recruit who becomes a soldier goes through, is forever. Military training and active service is an experience that re-shapes a person’s life. Our ADF personnel must be highly skilled, self-reliant, brave and courageous, and many become wired for conflict. The physical, emotional and mental demands on individuals in deployment are impossible to imagine for those of us who haven’t served. When our defence personnel finish serving our country the transition back into civilian living is challenging for many. For some it is too challenging. An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report found that 432 serving or ex-serving members suicided from 2001 to 2017. In 2018, 33 suicided. Ex-serviceman are 3.1 times more likely to suicide if discharged for medical reasons than if discharged voluntarily. And there are in excess of 5,000 ex-servicemen and women who are homeless over a 12 month period. Successive governments have more than enough data that shows too many of our defence personnel are not getting the support needed to cope with defence force work, or cope after that work is finished. A senate inquiry found that one in four returned solders had experienced a mental disorder and the rate of suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts, was double that of the general population. It has taken so long, needlessly and excruciatingly long for the Australian Government to recognise the unique nature of military service and to establish a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. It’s disappointing that the Government’s own agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs, has shown disregard, disrespect and callousness towards our veterans and that it has taken until this year for parliament to force a Royal Commission. The stories are numerous and share a common theme of delay, deny and destroy. Jesse Bird was a private with Townsville's Infantry Battalion who served an eight-month deployment to Afghanistan in 2009-10. He had been pursuing a claim for permanent impairment for almost two years and just weeks after losing the claim and pleading for help, Jessie committed suicide. After his death DVA approved his claim. As a nation Australian must do better to recognise the service, sacrifice and immense challenge our servicemen and women and their families face, especially when it comes to returning to regular lives. The Australian Government provides nearly $12 billion in federal funding to support 325,000 veterans and their families each year, yet too many remain unsupported. For some veterans, only other veterans understand well enough to help heal and re-integrate. Highly skilled and motivated defence personnel upon retirement from the ADF must have access to meaningful work. Veterans cannot be courageously defending your nation this week and then be left with a void the next. As I've already said military training and active service is experience that re-shapes people’s life. We need more organisations like Bootstraps, which are veterans for veterans, receiving funding in our communities. Only veterans know what veterans have been through. Our courageous servicemen and women need to know that Australians understand the vulnerabilities and frailties that can come from active service. Our veterans need better care, and a sense of honour and urgency from support agencies. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide needs to deliver for the men and women who have fought for our country. Veterans and all ex-service men and women need better mental health and transitional support and our country needs improved ways for veterans who are not actively seeking support to identify and get such needed support. Defence Force personnel and their families deserve that. Our guests today: SAM KAVANAGH served in the Army for 20 years and spent time in Combat Engineers, Signals and Corps of...

PFAS is part of a group of man-made chemicals sometimes called “forever chemicals”, because they break down so slowly. These chemicals, used in firefighting foams from 1965 until 2005, have left a legacy of contaminated sites all over Australia. There are 900 contaminated sites including defence force bases and major airports. And because they break down so slowly it will take generations to remove the contamination. PFAS has found its way to our homes into everyday products such as teflon coatings in our cookware and Scotchgard waterproofing. There is a global treaty to eliminate PFAS and 5 other chemicals from the environment due to their harm to humans and wildlife. It is called the Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants and Australia is a signatory. The European Commission has set a safe intake level for PFAS of 4.9 nanograms per kg of body weight because of the ill-effects on health. (A nanogram is one part per billion.) The Morrison Government refuses to accept that the PFAS chemical has caused any harm. The government is refusing to offer compensation and to relocate residents in these contaminated red zones around Defence bases, where a PFAS plume is spreading under their homes right now. A recent Federal Court case awarded some residents compensation that averaged $150,000 after legal fees. It was $212m in total. This is a tiny part of what these people have lost, and of course, they are still trapped in the red zone in homes they can’t sell. They are still being infected today. This is negligent and dishonest. Currently Australia does not have a designated safe level for PFAS. Contaminated cattle in the PFAS red zones are routinely returning contamination levels of 400 parts per billion, which is 80 times the European safe level of 4.6 parts per billion. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand are currently conducting a review and we do expect FSANZ to set a level, which we hope matches the European standard. The graziers still need to be relocated to a like for like property so they can get on with raising clean, heathy cattle to feed Australia and the world. The health impacts of PFAS are not going away. These are forever chemicals. Contamination is getting worse because remediation has been limited and based on a refusal to accept the pervasive nature of the problem and the serious health impacts it causes. We cannot have residents living in the middle of these highly contaminated red zones, abandoned and unable to move out. The Government must offer them like for like relocation. FSANZ must introduce a national standard for PFAS in food. Meat and Livestock Australia must get involved and lead a whole of industry response to removing PFAS from the meat food chain. The government should now honestly settle with these people and then go and get compensation from Dupont, as they have already done in US. Dupont put aside billions of dollars for settlement.

In this podcast two guests join us to a discuss our modern-day RSPCA. What might surprise you is that this isn’t a heart-warming story. The Royal Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, known as the RSPCA, dates to 1871 when a public meeting was held in Victoria in response to the ill treatment of horses. The QLD RSPCA was formed in 1883. The RSPCA is a household name and many consider it a beacon of respect and care for animals. Today, the RSPCA has capitalised on its branding of animal welfare with producers and brand owners being able to use the RSPCA logo to reflect their shared vision for animal welfare. Today we can buy RSPCA approved meat in our supermarkets. Typically, we don’t question the integrity of the claimed “animal welfare” standards as we take for granted that this iconic brand is squeaky clean. Several QLD constituents contacted my office recently with extraordinary stories about how the RSPCA were conducting themselves. Since asking questions at Senate Estimates about the RSPCA, their methods and the legitimacy of their not-for-profit status, we’ve been flooded with more calls and emails. Their stories share many similar themes and the overall message is that there is something rotten in the state of the RSPCA. The concerns being raised are varied. The RSPCA’s charity status means that they are not-for-profit and enjoy a tax-free status. Looking closely at the recent annual report it shows revenue was $58 million and included in that is a $4 million Federal Govt grant. The hefty surplus of $8.7 million is what prompted Senate Estimates questions of the Commissioner for Charities and Not-For-Profits. My questions were about whether the RSPCA should continue to enjoy charitable status? We’re waiting for that answer as no-one could provide one on the day. The RSPCA appears to be leveraging its charity branding to become heavily commercial. I have already mentioned the RSPCA approved meat and today RSPCA pet shops are being set up in the suburbs. On the face of it there is no problem. It is when we understand how the RSPCA is conducting itself under its Inspectorate powers, that we see the problem. The RSPCA’s Inspectorate of RSPCA QLD, has power to investigate and confiscate animals that are poorly treated. That is the heart of what we expect from them. What we don’t expect is seizure of animals based on lies. We have dozens of examples where Inspectorate officers have entered properties and confiscated with no prior notification or investigation. All this is based on an anonymous tip off that is never disclosed to the property owners. The warrants JPs sign sometimes use photographs of animals in poor conditions, which do not match the animals to be seized. This is only the beginning. Some pet owners have then seen their animals online for sale within days. This is the problem when the RSPCA have a commercial arm alongside their charitable arm when they can confiscate and sell based on misuse of powers and lies. This is a clear conflict of interest. Many pet shop owners, registered breeders, private pet owners, animal rescuers and veterinarians have experienced the full force of the RSPCA’s misuse of power. Many have spoken out against this strong arm approach and suffered the consequences. Pet shop businesses have been sabotaged when the RSPCA advises their suppliers to blacklist them based on false accusations of animal cruelty. Veterinarians who have spoken out against this behaviour have also suffered from the RSPCA spreading false accusations regarding their standards of animal care. Business have been decimated through this belligerent behaviour. My two guests, who both own pet stores, join us to share their experiences with the RSPCA. Their stories are confronting. 'Shell' and Nicole’s stories are extraordinary and not what we expect of a charity that is supposed to champion care and respect for animals. This unconscionable conduct is exploiting its charitable and tax-free status...

Participation in sport is a right for everyone. We know sport is great for our physical health, and for our social, emotional and mental health. Australia is a great nation of sports watchers and participants. Next month the world looks forward to the Olympics and this year there will be some fierce debate centred on some of the women’s sporting competitions. Namely those events with transgender females who are competing in female sports. A transgender female is someone born male and then makes a decision to live as a female. To assist their transition they will take sex hormones and have surgery. Some transgender females now want to compete in women’s sport and that brings an immense challenge. At the Olympics the stakes are high. The training, carried out over many years, will have meant enormous sacrifice and to be pipped at the post by a biological man in a women’s sporting event just doesn’t seem fair. It may seem inclusive, but is it fair? The IOC have stated “There’s considerable tension between the notions of fairness and inclusion, and the desire and need to protect the women’s category.” What does this male advantage look like? Let’s quantify it. When males go through puberty they gain physiological advantages such as higher lung capacity, increased blood flow and greater bone strength. These advantage don’t diminish completely after a gender transition. In the final analysis a man is on average 7% taller and 13% larger. Women on average have only 66% of male lower body strength and 52% of male upper body strength. At Olympic level, the pinnacle for any athlete, the difference between male and females world records are around 10% - across sprinting, distance and strength events. Transgender women don’t always win, but a women will probably need to work even harder to win in her category. But the odds are tipped towards the transgender woman. In the US in 2017 and 2018, a transgender female won a high school track championships in the 55m, 100m, 200m and 300m events. Her closest and only real competitor was also a transgender female. Some argue that sports is never an equal playing field and there are always inherent advantages in some people and disadvantages with others. While that may accurate putting biological men up against women is “not fair play”, nor is it safe play. Everyone has a right to compete and participate and we need a solution that takes biology into account. Maybe our best outcomes is a women’s category and an open category. That way sport is inclusive, safe and fair. Our Nation Today. 10 July, 2021

Western countries are experiencing an explosion of gender dysphoria in our children. Historically incidences of gender dysphoria were small and larger with preschool boys, yet the explosion in recent years has been in our teenage girls. This significant change remains largely unexplained. There are two pathways to support these children. The therapeutic pathway and the medical pathway. It is surprising and worrying that many children are opting for the medical pathway, which includes experimental puberty blockers, hormones and irreversible surgery. All bring life long consequences Our Nation Today. 3 July, 2021